July 28
Events *1540 - Thomas Cromwell is executed on order from Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day. *1609 - Bermuda is first settled, by survivors of the English Sea Venture, en route to Virginia. *1794 - Maximilien Robespierre is guillotined in front of a cheering crowd, for sending thousands of others to a similar fate during the French Revolution. *1809 - Peninsular War: Battle of Talavera - Sir Arthur Wellesley's British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeats a French force under Joseph Bonaparte. *1821 - Peru: Jose de San Martin declares independence from Spain. *1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Ezra Church - The battle begins on this day when Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta. *1866 - The Metric Act of 1866 becomes law and legalizes the standardization of weights and measures in the United States. *1873 - The Japanese government implements land and tax reform as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. *1878 - Great Britain's William Gowland becomes the first non-Japanese to reach Yarigatake peak (3,180 meters), and he names the mountain the Japanese Alps, a name that is eventually used to refer to the entire mountain range. *1896 - The City of Miami is incorporated. *1914 - World War I begins: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia after it failed to meet the conditions of an ultimatum it set on July 23 following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serbian assassin. This event leads to the outbreak of war. *1932 - US President Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington. *1942 - World War II: USSR leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227 in response to alarming German advances into Russia. Under the order all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so will be immediately killed. *1943 - World War II: Operation Gomorrah - The British bomb Hamburg causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians. *1945 - A US Army B-25 bomber accidentally crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 injuring 26. *1955 - The Union Mundial pro Interlingua is founded at the first Interlingua congress in Tours, France. *1958 - Lord Jellicoe makes his maiden speech in the House of Lords. *1965 - Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000. *1976 - The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 magnitude flattens Tangshan, the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851. *1994 - Pitcher Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers throws a perfect game against the California Angels in a 4-0 win at The Ballpark in Arlington. *1996 - Kennewick Man, the remains of a prehistoric man, was discovered near Kennewick. *1997 - Guatemala becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. *2002 - Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, were rescued after 77 hours underground. *2005 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army (The PIRA) call an end to their thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland. * 2005 - A tornado touches down in a residential area in south Birmingham, England, causing £4,000,000 worth of damages and injuring 39 people. *2007 - Major League Baseball. Breaks its single day attendence record as 717,478 fans attend 17 games. Births *356 BC - Alexander the Great, Greek king and military leader (d. 323 BC) *1347 - Margherita of Durazzo, queen of Naples (d. 1412) *1659 - Charles Ancillon, French Huguenot pastor (d. 1715) *1746 - Thomas Heyward, American patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1809) *1750 - Fabre d'Églantine French dramatist and politician, creator of the French Republican calendar (d. 1794) *1796 - Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian musician (d. 1859) *1804 - Ludwig Feuerbach, German philosopher (d. 1872) *1815 - Stefan Dunjov, Banat Bulgarian military figure (d. 1889) *1844 - Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (d. 1889) *1857 - Ballington Booth, co-founder of Volunteers of America (d. 1940) *1860 - Elias M. Ammons, governor of Colorado (d. 1925) *1863 - Hussein Khan Nakhichevanski, Russian general (d. 1919) *1866 - Beatrix Potter, English author (d. 1943) *1867 - Charles Dillon Perrine, American-born astronomer (d. 1951) *1872 - Albert Sarraut, French politician (d. 1962) *1874 - Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher (d. 1945) *1887 - Marcel Duchamp, French painter (d. 1968) *1896 - Barbara La Marr, American actress (d. 1926) *1898 - Lawrence Gray, American actor (d. 1970) *1901 - Rudy Vallee, American entertainer (d. 1986) * 1901 - Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player (d. 1979) *1902 - Karl Popper, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1994) *1907 - Earl Tupper, American inventor (d. 1983) *1909 - Malcolm Lowry, English novelist (d. 1957) *1914 - Carmen Dragon, American composer (d. 1984) *1915 - Charles Townes, American physicist, Nobel laureate *1916 - David Brown, American film producer *1922 - Jacques Piccard, Belgian-born undersea explorer *1925 - Baruch S. Blumberg, American scientist, Nobel laureate *1927 - John Ashbery, American poet *1929 - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady of the United States (d. 1994) *1930 - Jean Roba, Belgian comics author (d. 2006) * 1930 - Junior Kimbrough, American bluesman (d. 1998) *1933 - Charlie Hodge, French Canadian ice hockey goaltender *1934 - Jacques d'Amboise, American choreographer *1935 - Simon Dee, British television broadcaster *1936 - Russ Jackson, Canadian football player * 1936 - Garfield Sobers, Barbadian West Indies cricketer *1937 - Francis Veber, French film director and screenwriter *1938 - Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru *1938 - Chuan Leekpai, Thai politician and Former Prime Minister of Thailand *1940 - Philip Proctor, American comedian *1941 - Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor *1942 - Marty Brennaman, American sportscaster *1943 - Mike Bloomfield, American musician (d. 1981) * 1943 - Bill Bradley, American basketball player and politician * 1943 - Richard Wright English musician (Pink Floyd) *1945 - Jim Davis, American cartoonist *1946 - Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani writer and feminist * 1946 - Linda Kelsey, American actress *1948 - Georgia Engel, American actress * 1948 - Sally Struthers, American actress *1949 - Steve Peregrin Took, English singer (d. 1980) * 1949 - Vida Blue, American baseball player * 1949 - Peter Doyle, Australian singer (The New Seekers) (d. 2001) *1950 - Shahyar Ghanbari, Iranian poet *1951 - Anthony A. Williams, Mayor of Washington * 1951 - Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect *1952 - Yoshitaka Amano, Japanese artist * 1952 - Vajiralongkorn *1954 - Steve Morse, American guitarist * 1954 - Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela * 1954 - Bruce Abbott, American actor * 1954 - Gerd Faltings, German mathematician *1955 - Nikolay Zimyatov, Russian cross-country skier *1958 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and activist (d. 1981) * 1958 - Michael Hitchcock, American actor *1961 - Alexander Kurlovitch, Soviet weightlifter *1962 - Rachel Sweet, American singer *1964 - Lori Loughlin, American actress *1965 - Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer * 1965 - Delfeayo Marsalis, jazz musician *1969 - Garth Snow, American ice hockey goaltender * 1969 - Alexis Arquette, American actor *1970 - Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist (Arch Enemy) * 1970 - Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skater *1971 - Stephen Lynch, American musician * 1971 - Annie Perreault, Canadian short-track speed skater *1972 - Elizabeth Berkley, American actress * 1972 - Ed Templeton, American skateboarder * 1972 - Yeom Jeong-ah, South Korean actress *1973 - Steve Staios, Canadian ice hockey player * 1973 - Marc Dupré, Quebec humorist and singer *1974 - Justin Lee Collins, British comedian *1975 - Leonor Watling, Spanish actress and singer *1976 - Jacoby Shaddix, American singer (Papa Roach) *1977 - Emanuel Ginóbili, Argentine basketball player * 1977 - Aki Berg, Finnish ice hockey player *1979 - Lee Minwoo, Korean singer (Shinhwa) * 1979 - Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer *1981 - Michael Carrick, English footballer * 1981 - Jo In Sung, South Korean actor *1982 - Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Icelandic singer and actress * 1982 - Tom Pelphrey, American actor *1984 - DeMeco Ryans, American football player * 1984 - Zach Parise, American ice hockey player *1985 - Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor * 1985 - Tynisha Keli, American singer *1986 - Alexandra Chando, American actress *1988 - Ayla Brown, American singer *1990 - Soulja Boy, American rapper *1993 - Hannah Lochner, Canadian actress Deaths * 450 - Theodosius II, Roman Emperor (b. 401) *1057 - Pope Victor II *1128 - William Clito, Count of Flanders (b. 1102) *1230 - Duke Leopold VI of Austria (b. 1176) *1285 - Queen Keran of Armenia, consort of Leo III of Armenia *1527 - Rodrigo de Bastidas, Spanish conquistador *1540 - Thomas Cromwell, English statesman *1631 - Guillén de Castro y Bellvis, Spanish dramatist (b. 1569) *1655 - Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet (b. 1619) *1667 - Abraham Cowley, English poet (b. 1618) *1675 - Bulstrode Whitelocke, English lawyer (b. 1605) *1685 - Henry Bennet, English statesman (b. 1618) *1718 - Etienne Baluze, French scholar (b. 1630) *1741 - Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer (b. 1678) *1750 - Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer (b. 1685) *1762 - George Dodington, English politician (b. 1691) *1794 - Maximilien Robespierre, French Revolutionary leader (b. 1758) * 1794 - Louis de Saint-Just, French Revolutionary leader (b. 1767) *1818 - Gaspard Monge, French mathematician (b. 1746) *1835 - Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French marshal (b. 1768) *1842 - Clemens Brentano, German poet (b. 1778) *1844 - Joseph Bonaparte, older brother of Napoleon I and King of Naples and Spain (b. 1768) *1849 - King Charles Albert of Sardinia (b. 1798) *1869 - Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist (b. 1787) *1878 - George Law Curry, Newspaper publisher and Governor of Oregon (b. 1820) *1930 - Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862) *1934 - Marie Dressler, Canadian actress (b. 1868) *1942 - William Matthew Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (b. 1853) *1957 - Edith Abbott, American social worker, educator, and author (b. 1876) *1965 - Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author (b. 1894) *1967 - Karl W. Richter, Lieutenant, USAF, American aviator (b. 1942) *1968 - Otto Hahn, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1879) *1969 - Ramón Grau, Cuban president (b. 1882) *1971 - Myril Hoag, American baseball player (b. 1908) *1972 - Helen Traubel, American soprano (b. 1903) * 1972 - Charu Majumdar, Indian revolutionary leader (b. 1918) *1982 - Keith Green, American gospel singer, songwriter, and pianist (b. 1953) *1990 - Jill Esmond, British actress (b. 1908) *1996 - Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and educator (b. 1908) *1997 - Seni Pramoj, Thai politician, Thai Prime Minister (b. 1905) *1998 - Lenny McLean, "The Guv'nor", London bareknuckle fighter,"the hardest man in Britain". (b. 1949) *1999 - Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1911) *2000 - Abraham Pais, Dutch-born American physicist and science historian (b. 1918) *2002 - Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910) *2003 - Lady Valerie Goulding, Irish Senator and campaigner for the disabled (b. 1918) *2004 - Francis Crick, English molecular biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1916) * 2004 - Sam Edwards, American actor (b. 1915) * 2004 - Eugene Roche, American actor (b. 1928) * 2004 - Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist (b. 1938) *2006 - David Gemmell, British writer (b. 1948) *2007 - Jim LeRoy, Stunt Plane pilot * 2007 - Karl Gotch, Professional wrestler, Olympian (b. 1924) Holidays and observances *Faroe Islands - Ólavsøka Eve *Peru - Independence Day Roman Catholicism *Saints Nazarius and Celsus *Saint Innocent I, pope *Saint Pantaleon, martyr common External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:July